


Traveller

by SaltwaterX



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-11-15 15:52:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18076364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaltwaterX/pseuds/SaltwaterX
Summary: AU-ish.They both had the ability to travel to a parallel universe after death. But couldn't choose when and where they go next.





	Traveller

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer:  
> I do not own Person of Interest or any characters in it.

#  
Shaw is a Traveller.  
Root was too.

1)  
Root is a traveller between parallel universes. She's got a watch that goes backwards. 12 spaces, 12 chances to travel in time. When and where to go was never her choice, but one can't argue with the universe.

2)  
Root's first life took a turn on May 1st 1898, at Manila Bay.  
Being the mind behind all those military activities (though known to the world as George Dewey's mistress), she of course went there with him. As he led the army to raid the bay at exactly midnight, Root got up and looked out of the window, knowing that if they win, the States would gain so much and she's going to get nothing but more jewelries. And if they lose, well, now that would be ugly.  
Root caught a glimpse of someone climbing over the fence of their temporary mansion, but took no notice, as she knew that though the mansion's big and luxurious, the soldiers keeping guard were more than capable.  
At 7 o'clock, good news were brought back from the front-line.  
Root went to the stairs to await her soon-to-be general. And there came the woman she saw out of her window.  
Soldiers surrounded them in a split second. Root signaled them to stay put in the next half. She felt so interested.  
The middle-east woman didn't smile, didn't raise a gun, just gave her a box. With a whisper the woman said, “Shit Root you still look exactly the same.”  
The next second a bullet went through the woman's left chest.  
Root looked at the disobedient soldier, knowing it's not her place to say any more, turned around and went inside.  
She opened the box in the bedroom. Saw a dozen badges with names that she had no clue of, and several guns that seems way too advanced for this era. And she knew, the woman was a time traveller like herself. And apparently, that woman also knew. The clock on her wrist began to warm up, she knew that's the sign of moving on to the next space.  
The next second, Dewey opened the door, saw the gun on her hand, and didn't hesitate to pull out his gun and fire.  
Root fell to the floor, missing the little piece of paper buried on the bottom of the box.  
“You have switched between a thousand shapes. But however you changed, you always remained perfect for my straight line.”

3)  
In Root’s next 2 lives, she didn’t meet the woman. And she started to forget about the strange encounter. A Traveller’s life had too many possibilities and Root was not the kind to be sentimental.

4)  
Iran, 1907.  
Root was there when the US and Iran signed their treaty.  
And there she saw the woman. She looked beautiful in her royal dress.  
The woman approached, “Hi. Never saw a female interpreter working for the States before.”  
“There’s first for everything dear. And here I thought I’d never saw a royal.” Root raised an eyebrow.  
“Yeah. Great great grandfather was someone really important.”  
“How may I call you, your majesty?” Root’s honey-brown eyes flickered.  
“Shaw. Sameen Shaw.”  
“That’s definitely not your real name sweetie.”  
“That’s the only one that matters.”  
“And we know each other how?” Root was starting to flirt, Shaw knew.  
“We’re lovers.” Curt, but to the point.  
“Seriously? I thought this era doesn’t tolerate this kind of love. Plus, we are supposed to be enemies, remember?”  
“Up for a little adventure?” Shaw signaled for a back door.  
“Absolutely.”

5)  
When they met in Root’s fifth life, Root was busy hiding from the city’s largest gang. She killed their heir, so she guessed that she deserved it.  
“Well, I finally found the woman that killed my girl.” A woman said as she broke and entered Root’s last hiding place.  
Root froze, but her watch burnt.  
The woman also froze when she saw Root. But she wasn’t quick enough to stop her lieutenant from shooting.  
Root fell in front of Shaw’s eyes.  
“Bold enough to mess with the biggest gang, it’s so you.”  
“Oh, sweetie, I can’t stand you being hurt, except by me, of course.”  
“Goodbye, Root. I’ll see you next time.”

6)  
“Sameen Shaw.”  
Root looked up from the name sheet, “Agent Shaw, glad to be your commander.”  
Shaw was an undercover, but it didn’t prevent them from staying together every moment.  
“How come you always had the same name, Sameen?”  
“I had my ways. And come to think of it, you never asked why I called you Root.”  
“I don’t like spoilers, sweetie.” Root closed up with a kiss, “Got to do it while I still can.”

6)  
Every life of Root’s seemed to be dangerous. Always dealing with guns and fights. And she always ended up with an unnatural death. Shaw seemed to play a big part each time, as they would constantly be on the opposite side.  
And with each death, Shaw became more distant. Root knew that Shaw had 2 axis personal disorder by now, she understood that Shaw doesn’t feel like other people.  
And Root felt the heartbreak that Shaw must have felt when she appeared on her steps in 1898. Root felt the despair that Shaw must have felt when she asked for her name flirtatiously in 1907. Root knew that she must have broke Shaw again after she finally opened up.  
So when Root died for the tenth time, she wondered how messed up the universe is. It really is infinite, chaotic, and cold.

7)  
Root was so careful in her eleventh life. But Shaw wasn’t there.  
“So next life holds it all.”

8)  
New York, 2013.  
Shaw was supposed to meet a Miss May. When she opened the hotel door, she say a fairly beautiful woman.  
The woman tased her and threatened her with an iron.  
“I kind of enjoy this kind of thing.” Shaw was so tough. And Root knew that like the back of her hand.  
In this life, they had nine hours in a safe house, they purified Finch’s five-syllable-words instruction with a whole night, they were four alarm fire, they were finally on the same team.  
“If the worst come to pass, can you give Shaw a message?” Root said to Finch.  
“Family politics, over-cooked meat, monogamy, what’s not to love?” Root asked Finch.  
She flirted and proposed for a thousand times. But Shaw was not ready to be cured of her sociopath.  
So when Root’s watch burnt for the one last time, she panicked. She was used to death, she’s normally born ready for it. But this time she’s not.  
Because Shaw wasn’t there.  
But at least, after the machine took Root’s voice, it told Shaw what Root always wanted to say to her: “You always thought there are something wrong with you, because you don’t feel things the way other people do. But she always thought that’s what made you beautiful. She wanted you to know that if you were a shape, you were a straight line. An arrow.”  
Shaw shed half a tear. Only half.

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my mother tongue. So please tolerate any mistakes. THX.  
> All comments are welcome!


End file.
